ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s highest court has thrown out a murder conviction for a once-prominent Atlanta attorney who fatally shot his wife as they rode in an SUV. The unanimous opinion says the jury should have had the option of a misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter charge. Seventy-nine-year-old Claud “Tex” McIver was convicted in 2018 of felony murder, aggravated assault, influencing a witness and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in the September 2016 killing of his wife, 64-year-old Diane McIver.

PHOENIX (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has allowed enforcement of a 2021 Arizona law that lets prosecutors bring felony charges against doctors who knowingly terminate pregnancies solely because the fetuses have a genetic abnormality such as Down syndrome.

As Americans celebrate July 4, thousands of members of the U.S. Armed Services are sacrificing to maintain peace and defend the freedom that the United States and many other nations enjoy, and chaplains are there with them, providing the spiritual support they want and need. In early 2022 the reality of an impending Russian invasion of the Ukraine reverberated throughout the United States Armed Services community and members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. By the end of January, U.S. forces were put on high alert to provide support to NATO allies in Eastern Europe.

The Big Ten voted unanimously to add Southern California and UCLA as conference members beginning in 2024. The expansion to 16 teams will happen after the Pac-12’s current media rights contracts with Fox and ESPN expire and make the Big Ten the first conference to stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Tropical Storm Bonnie has formed over the Caribbean as it heads for a quick march across Central America and potential development into a hurricane after reemerging in the Pacific. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Bonnie is on a track for the general Nicaragua-Costa Rica border region.

GENEVA (AP) — FIFA will introduce new technology to improve offside calls at the World Cup in Qatar this year, using a limb-tracking camera system. It's the third World Cup in a row that sees FIFA introduce new technology to help referees.

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) — A Navy investigation is revealing how shoddy management and human error caused fuel to leak into Pearl Harbor’s tap water last year. The leak poisoned thousands of people and forced military families to evacuate their homes for hotels.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea is suggesting its COVID-19 outbreak began in people who had contact with balloons flown from South Korea. The highly questionable claim appeared to be an attempt to hold its rival responsible amid increasing tensions. Activists for years have flown balloons across the border to distribute propaganda leaflets, and North Korea has expressed fury at the activists and at South Korea's leadership for not stopping them.

HONG KONG (AP) — China’s leader Xi Jinping has marked the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return with a speech that emphasized Beijing’s control over the former British colony under its vision of “one country, two systems." He countered criticism that the political and civic freedoms promised for the next quarter-century have been largely erased under Chinese rule.

LONDON (AP) — Inflation in countries using the euro set another eye-watering record, pushed higher by a huge increase in energy costs fueled partly by Russia’s war in Ukraine. Annual inflation in the eurozone’s 19 countries hit 8.6% in June, surging past the 8.1% recorded in May.

MOSCOW (AP) — American basketball star Brittney Griner appeared in a Moscow-area court for trial Friday, about 4 1/2 months after she was arrested on cannabis possession charges at an airport while traveling to play for a Russian team.

POKROVSK, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian authorities say Russian missile attacks on residential buildings in a coastal town near the port city of Odesa have killed at least 19 people, including two children. Video of the pre-dawn Friday attack showed the charred remains of buildings in the small town of Serhiivka, located about 30 miles southwest of Odesa.

ATLANTA – Georgia’s population increased between July 2020 and July 2021, according to annual data from the Census Bureau. The state’s 2021 population was roughly 10.8 million, an increase of almost 74,000 residents, or about 0.7%, over 2020. 

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's governor is extending the suspension of the state's motor fuel tax through mid-August. Gov. Brian Kemp on Friday signed an executive order extending the suspension for a second time. The order also suspends the state sales tax on locomotive fuel.

SAN DIEGO (BP) – Serving in the military is “noble and good,” says Justin Woods, but it’s not enough for some of the midshipmen at the 4,400-student U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. A cadre of the 150 students involved with the Baptist Collegiate Ministry at the Naval Academy have been going on mission to San Diego each summer for the last five years. There were 22 students on the team this summer.

The NBA generated more basketball related income than ever this past season, the total number coming up just short of $9 billion. Business is good. The first night of free agency underscored how good. Nikola Jokic and Bradley Beal both quickly agreed to deals that will be worth more than a quarter of a billion dollars by the time they expire, highlighting the moves made Thursday when the NBA’s annual free-agent negotiating window opened.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kyle Schwarber finished off the month with another June homer, Darick Hall went deep twice and the Philadelphia Phillies avoided a three-game sweep with a 14-4 rout of the Atlanta Braves. Rhys Hoskins and Nick Castellanos also homered for the Phillies, who reached a season high in runs and were without star Bryce Harper in the lineup for the fourth straight game.

Stocks fell again on Wall Street Thursday, closing out the worst quarter for the market since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020. The S&P 500 index lost 0.9%. It's now down 21% since hitting a record high at the beginning of the year, having entered a bear market earlier in June. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8% and the Nasdaq fell 1.3%.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Delta Air Lines has agreed to pay $10.5 million to settle charges it falsified information about deliveries of international mail, including mail sent to U.S. soldiers overseas. The Justice Department said Thursday that Delta was under contract to the Postal Service when it falsified records about deliveries from 2010 to 2016.

My initial reaction to photos showing women using their children at pro-abortion protests was anger. But then the Lord broke my heart.

A team of Georgia Baptists spent last week in western Kentucky, working alongside local believers to rebuild homes damaged by a massive tornado in December 2021.

People watch us and notice what we do. You never know who is watching; thus, we should always be on our best behavior. 

NEW YORK (AP) — The OPEC oil cartel and allied producing nations have decided to boost production of crude by an amount that will likely do little to relieve high gasoline prices at the pump and energy-fueled inflation plaguing the global economy. The group agreed Thursday to an increase of 648,000 barrels per day in August, which leaves the world thirsty for oil as it rebounds from the COVID-19 pandemic.

A big opioid settlement and a COVID-19 vaccine slowdown helped drop Walgreens’ fiscal third-quarter earnings, but the drugstore chain still topped expectations. The company said Thursday that earnings slid to $289 million in the quarter that ended May 31. That’s down from about $1.2 billion the previous year.

DALLAS (AP) — If you're flying this holiday weekend, be prepared for crowded airports, full planes, and higher-than-normal chances that your flight will be delayed or even canceled. Airlines have stumbled badly over the last two holiday weekends, and the number of Americans flying over the July Fourth weekend is expected to set records for the pandemic era.